Downton Abbey casts Gary Carr as first black character

Gary Carr has been cast as a jazz singer, Downton Abbey's first black
character, for the show's fourth series.

Gary Carr, here starring in play Earthquakes, will play a jazz singer in Downton Abbey series fourPhoto: Helen Maybanks

By Alice Vincent, Entertainment writer, online

11:09AM BST 01 May 2013

Downton Abbey's first black character will be a jazz singer, played by Gary Carr. Carr, who is 26 and has previously appeared in Death In Paradise and Bluestone 42, will play Jack Ross in series four of the hit ITV drama.

Last year Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes said he wanted to "open up the show ethnically" and that the introduction of a black character would lead to storylines about race relations in the 1920s.